The present invention relates to a roof utility unit which in combination with other like companion units can protect and thermally insulate a roof of a building, both in the warmer or summer seasons and in the colder or winter seasons as well.
Roofs are constantly exposed to many weathering factors, especially the hot, baking sun during the warmer seasons, principally the summer, and to the colder temperatures and chilling blasts of wind during the colder seasons, principally the winter. Either extreme makes the inhabitation of a home uncomfortable and requires the expenditure of energy to maintain a comfortable, livable temperature, whether it be by air conditioning during the warmer seasons or the combustion of fuel during the colder seasons.
Although the present invention is not limited to flat roof constructions, this type of roof is peculiarly difficult to cool. In the southwestern regions of the United States, where the roofs of homes tend to be flat because of Spanish architectural influence, there may be less than ten inches of air space between a roof and an underlying ceiling. This area readily becomes overheated from the sun and loses its heat only at night and then very slowly. During the warmer seasons, it is not unusual for the temperature on an outside roof of a home of this construction to reach 200.degree. F. and even higher. By conductance and radiation, such heat works its way through the roof and into the air space and eventually into the home itself.